Receptacle-closure.



W. H. TAYLOR.

RECEPTACLE CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 22, 1912.

1,199,1 28. Pfwenwdsept. 26,1916.

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unse: hmmm umn. wAsmm; mw. n cv UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEToE.

WALTER HERBERT TAYLOR, OF PORT ARTHUR, ONTARIO, CANADA;

RECEPTACLE-CLOSURE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Y Patented S1)t.26, 1916.`

Application led October 22, 1912.` Serial No. 727,120.

methods of sealing receptacles for food and the like with the aid of wax or other similar material which is liquid when hot and solid when cold, and my object is to so seal the receptacle as to insure the complete eX-l pulsion of all the air from under the seal, to render the seal efective with as small a quantity of wax as possible, to insure perfeet Contact of the molten waX with the mouth of the receptacle and to secure a compressive action on the solidifying wax as the contents of the receptacle cool.

I attain my object by placing in the container the material that is to be sealed, spreading a coating of a substance that will fuse under heat and solidify when cooled over said material so as to be sustained directly by the material to be sealed, displacing the waX laterally and up the sides of the mouth of the container by means of a plug floatable in the coating substance and the contents of the receptacle, and allowing the coating substance to cool and harden to engage and hold the plug.

The construction of the receptacle and plug is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a vertical section of the receptacle with the plug and sealing material in place; Fig. 2 a side elevation of the plug; and Fig. 3 a plan view of the receptacle with the plug in place.

In the drawings like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

l is the receptacle formed of any suitable material7 preferably glass or earthenware.

2 is the plug which, it will be seen, is of less diameter than the internal diameter of the mouth of the receptacle so that it is freely movable vertically therein. This plug is preferably, though not necessarily, formed of non-corrosible sheet metal. A disk form is preferred, the edge of the disk being provided with the upwardly turned flange 3. The plug will thus readily ioat either on the melted way or on the contents of the receptacle. The center of the plug is depressed by being formed of a cone-shape. The protuberance thus formed increases the floatability of the plug` and further `displaces the melted wax on which itis floated toward the sides of the receptacle, thus effecting an economy in the amount of wax necessary to eifect the sealing.

The mouth of the receptacle is preferably flared or otherwise increased in diameterv from a p oint adjacent the top, for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. So also the wall of the 'plug' may be corrugated or roughed to increase its contact with the waX.

The process of sealing is substantially as follows: The contents of the receptacle are poured into the same until the upper surface is somewhere near the top of the receptacle as shown. On top of the contents a suitable amount of melted paraffin wax or other sealing ingredient which is solid at ordinary temperatures, but isV readily meltable, is poured, or the wax may be applied in solid condition and allowed to melt by the action of the heat of the contents. The plug 2 is then dropped into place. The protuberance on the plug displaces the wax from the center toward the circumference and causes it to How up between the flange 2 and the inner surface of the mouth of the receptacle. The wax commences to consolidate from above downward since the wax in contact with the heated contents must necessarily longer retain the molten condition. As the wax consolidates it shrinks and the tendency is for it as it contracts to leave unfilled spaces, but this is prevented by the descent of the plug in the receptacle, the plug acting as a piston and carrying the wax down with it. Owing to the flaring of the mouth of the receptacle, the plug in its descent, as it carries the wax with it, forces the latter tightly against the sides-of the mouth of the receptacle and a close seal is obtained. The wax having consolidated as described, the contents, by continued cooling and contraction, cause atmospheric pressure to continue to operate to depress the plug in the receptacle. This continued pressure has a strong tendency to mold the consolidated wax to the form of the contours of the receptacle and plug and thus to correct the slight shrinkage of the waX from the heated surface which usually accompanies its cooling and is the chief reason why parailin has not been found to produce a perfect closure. This secondary molding of the paraffinafter it is solidified butl .is still more; or less plastic` is made possible by the fact that the plug is supported solely by the contents of 'Y thef receptacle With its supernatent layer of Wax-f being other-Wise absolutely free to move:

Within the mouth of the receptacle,f

lVhen it is desired to open the receptacle al needle Yis passed through the Wax some--V Where around the edge allowing the air into ther-interior,4 afterY which the,.-plug is easily removed.

l/Vhat I 'claim as vmy invention is:Y LaThe methodf:offsealing `materials in -containers consisting in placing .in :a v;con tamer the material that is to,v be Y sealed, spreading acoatlng of a substancev that wills fuse -underheat and-solidify when cooled oveiwsaid material.A so as to be sustained 3 directly bythe material to -be sealed, .em-

Copis of this,patent[maybeaobtained fox-live cents each, by,. add1tess ing ,the.(701;umissone1ferramenta;V

the material that is tobe sealed, spreading f a coating ofa substance that will fuse under heat and solidify when cooled over saidmaterial so as to be sustained directly bythe material to be sea-led, displacingthe fusible substance laterally and up the sides, ofthe mouth of thecontainer by means of a plug oatable i-onthecoating substance .and the contentsi of .the receptacle, and allowing: the` coating y substance toy cool and harden uto .en -wA gage and hold the reinforcing plate. v

ALTE-Rl HERBERT TAYLQR. VVitnesses:. Y Y AMY SHERRATT, K. A. TAYLOR.

Washington, 11,61 

